Is It Ever Enough?
by HollandWrights
Summary: Gaara and Sakura both have all they could of hoped for. But without each other- is it enough? Lemons in later chaps.
1. Chapter 1

**NOTICE -please read me! :**

Hey everyone! I really do love this pairing, and I hope if your reading this that you do as well! Please if you are not mature enough to read this story- as per the "M" rating- then don't because there _will _be lemons in later chapters, as well as violence and possibly offensive language. Also for this particular plot line both Gaara and Sakura will have there "inner personas and voices" So incase you get confused heres a guide to who's saying what.

~Guide~

**_Inner Voices_**

_Someones thoughts_

"Speaking out loud"

Ok now the DISCLAIMER- I do not own NARUTO or any of the characters in this story, I do however own this plot...

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Chapter 1- (Sakura)

Sakura drew a heavy breath as she expertly opened the double doors to the Hokage's office with her foot while simultaneously balancing four large medical texts, two technique scrolls, three report scrolls and two huge steaming cups of coffee. She walked into the large circular room, surprised, only finding a few transcribers at a large desk in the corner.

_ That's weird_ she thought..._normally everyone would be here._ By everyone she was referring to several missions specialists, transcribers, advisors to the Hokage, the Hokage herself, Shizune, and a ridiculous amount of ninja- (Jounin, Chunin and Anbu) all vying for missions to pay the bills.

She walked over to her desk ,that was to the right of were Tsunade usually sat, and set all of her things down. Just then Shizune walked out of another set of doors that led to the Hokage's main office. Sakura looked up and beamed at her. "Oh Shizune _thank gods_ your here! I was starting to get worried that nobody was around. Are we dry on missions today or something?" Shizune stared at Sakura openly with a slightly quirked eyebrow and said slowly with a concerned smile "...uhm Sakura-san have you forgotten what today is?"

Sakura tried to think. _Lets see...hmmm. Well today I really __should__ pick up my dry cleaning. And after I go to the lab I need to go to the training grounds for a few hours...wait...do I have the night shift at the hospital tonight? _She pursed her lips and tapped her finger on her cheek. _Am I missing anything else? Kami, I don't think so... I did have a lot to drink at the bar last night. Maybe I hit my head and just can't remember? _Sakura looked at Shizune with a silent "could-you-please-just-tell-me" face. She sighed, "Sakura, today is the day that the Kazegage, Subaku no Gaara-sama, is arriving with his traveling party."

Suddenly the light bulb in Sakura's brain sparked. "Oh yeah! The peace treaty festival! I guess I've just had so much going on lately, I forgot..." That was when Tsunade slammed the door of her office open and stormed out. The lound noise made Sakura's brain twitch with the first licks of a possible hangover.

"Alright Shizune lets get down to the damn gates, everyone is probably waiting for us...Kami, the sooner this is over with the sooner the festival will start...and then I can have a drink!"

Tsunade saw Sakura standing behind her desk and gave a huge knowing smirk. "Well good morning Sakura... may I ask why you are _here_ in _this_ building and not at the gates waiting for the Kazekage to arrive? You know it would be extremely rude if the Hokage _and_ her apprentice weren't there to recieve him should he show up early."

"Oh yes..." Sakura mumbled as she shot a glance at Shizune, and then looked back to Tsunade, and then at the coffee on her desk. "... Well you see I thought you might need some coffee!" She coolly lied while handing Tsunade one of the cups. She took the cup from Sakura and started slurping down the warm liquid. "Mmmmmm." Sakura relaxed a little, thinking she was off the hook for forgetting the important day. Until Tsunade looked up and said "Yea well thats total bull shit." Sakura swallowed, Tsunade was about to go into lecture mode in 3...2...1...

"Honestly Sakura how could you forget something so important to our Village? As my apprentice you should be very dissapointed in yourself-" Sakura felt her hangover begin to take form. "-you've got way to much going on at once you can't even remember something huge like this! You spend all your time here working and studying with me and then intense training sessions on top of which you take long shifts at the hospital and take on S-class missions-" _Ya well, that is my life. _Sakura thought while here Inner persona danced around in all of its ego happy glory for Tsunade noticing all the work she did. "-I admire and appreciate how hard you work, but if you doing so many things at the same time is causing you to slack off and forget things then-" Sakura took this chance to interject.

"Yes Hokakage-sama I understand. But I assure you I can handle it all." Tsunade just grunted "Yes, well handling things and accomplishing things are two greatly _different _things" while walking out the door.

Shizune looked at Sakura with a pitying smile and told Sakura not to take it to personally as they rushed out of the tower behind the Hokage, "She hasn't had any alcohol in the past two days...Its made her a bit more irritable then usual." "Shizune!" Tsunade screamed just then. She squeaked and caught up to her side were they discussed something in rushed whispers.

Sakura trailed behind them as she reflected on everything her mentor had just said. She really was always busy...but Sakura thought that thats what it took to be as strong and accomplished as she was.

She was the greatest medical professional of her time- she was the head doctor at Konoha's hospital. That took hours and hours of studying and testing in the lab, hands on work with Tsunade, and putting in hours at the hospital. She was a ridiculously strong and skillful ninja, and that came with hours of training and physical exertion and taking on hard missions.

She didn't care that other girls had tasted the edges of the greatness they could accomplish as a kunoichi, and then decided to take an easier path. She was not like those other girls. She was better. She was the best. And if she couldn't go out and party and dance and have fun all the time then who cared? She didn't. Well...sometimes she did.

But in the end, this was a hard profession, and a hard life. If she wanted to keep up with the boys, and come out on top in everything she did, then she would devote everything she had! - This is what she always told herself, and it always hardened her resolve and kept her moving forward. She smiled to herself, and felt just a little bit of pride for her accomplishments seep in- but not to much. She never wanted to get cocky. Thats when you started to make mistakes. _**Psh hell ya we're the best! **_Her Inner cheered- pom pom's and all and she sighed a little at herself. She really needed to see a therapist.

They started to come upon the large welcoming party gathered around the front gates of the city and Sakura noticed many of her friends and people she knew gathered around. She waved at a few of them, but Tsunade needed her by her side at the moment, so she couldn't go and say hi to anyone just yet. That was ok though, she told herself, she would see everyone at the festival later.

The thought of the festival brightened her spirits. Last night she had been dismissed early from work and had gone out with Ino, (who she rarely got to see anymore- between Ino running her parents flower shop and Sakura being generally busy with her work) who told her that her new boyfriend had a _really_ good looking friend she wanted to set Sakura up with.

"I swear if I had seen him before I met Hideki-kun I would _so _be with him instead." Ino had said. "_Seriously_ forehead- he's a great catch!" Sakura had said she didn't want to be set up on a blind date, but Ino had insisted she meet him tonight. Sakura begrudgingly agreed, only to shut the pig up of course. Now though, just hours before the date she was actually starting to get excited.

The people in the large crowd made way for them and they walked through to the front. Tsunade stood up at the very front entrance with Shizune to her right and Sakura standing to the left of her, with the three of them surrounded by a half circle of Anbu ninja, separating them slightly from the rest of the crowd. And then they just stood there. And they waited. They just stood there, and waited. For about fifteen minutes they stood there and they waited before Sakura started to get restless.

She had learned to develop her patience over the years, however today she seemed to have no hold on it._ This is ridiculous!_ She thought._ I am going to be stuck standing here for hours before the Kazekage even shows up! I have __so__ much to get done for Tsunade -sama at work, and if I can't get it done relatively soon then I will be swamped with work __tomorrow_! She crossed her arms and began to drum her fingers against them. _**Psh, this is fucktarded. **_Her Inner pouted with her as she wondered were in the hell she had come up with that word. Thats what happened when you left Sakura alone with herself for to long- the weird internal conversations started.

She could only assume Tsunade began to get bored because she turned to Shizune and actually started gossiping with her. Shizune was a _huge_ gossip, and everyone knew it. She was almost as bad as Ino. Except she tried to hide the fact that she was because it was "inappropriate behavior". So every now and again Tsunade thought it was funny to tease her with it, by feeding her secret info and seeing how it affected her.

"_So Shizune"_ Tsunade said slowly with a small grin. "I bet I know something interesting that you don't know." She wiggled her eyebrows at her waiting for her to take the bait. Shizune's ears perked up, and she was visibly struggling to keep her cool and not burst at the seems with the excitement of juicy info.

She kept a tight smile, pretending she didn't want to know as badly as she did. "Oh? And what might that be ma'am?" Sakura leaned in closer, trying to listen in and mentally cheered for Shizune to keep on fighting and not to break down. _**Fighting!**_Sakura's inner cheered- pumping her fists.

Tsunade clucked her tongue and leaned in to whisper "Well!" She said all dramatically. "You know how the Kazekage's advisory counsil members are coming along with him _right?_..." Shizune turned her full attention to Tsunade, eyes wide and desperate, nodding her head violently fast and eager like a puppy, and Sakura sighed knowing she was lost to her shisou's downward spiral of childish banter for however long it took to stand around out here.

Sakura had to strain her ears to listen in as Tsunade spoke in quick whispered tones- "Well _apparently..._ they are trying to seek out a good match for him!"

Shizune gasped "_No!"_

Tsunade squealed "Yes, yes!"

Sakura just thought both of them had gone mad.

"That letter that I received this morning was from one of the government officials from Suna, telling me that they would be looking for suitable options of girls for him to marry when they came here, -and asked if I would be open to helping them!" Shizune looked like she was going to pass out from excitement.

Sakura couldn't help herself as she got sucked into the conversation and interjected "Well why are they looking for girls here anyway? Why doesn't he marry someone from Suna?" Tsunade brought her hand up to her face and rubbed her chin like she had a beard she was stroking "I'm not sure yet _why_ exactly... they are most likely going to bring it up in the preliminary-discussion meeting before the public treaty signing." she said with a sly smile "Why Sakura? Would you happen to be interested in the Kazekage? I hear he's gotten quite handsome over the last few years..." Sakura looked at her like she had two heads and turned a few varying shades of red. "N-no! I don't even know the guy! I was just curious...obviously."

Tsunade and Shizune turned to each other and shared a knowing look. "But do not repeat this to anyone both of you! I don't want to upset the Suna officials over something stupid like this!" They all nodded in agreement, and then, done with the gossip, they continued to discuss matters of how they would proceed when the royal party would arrive. Sakura should have been listening, because she would be involved with taking care of official matters, but instead she let her mind wander over the Kazekage and weather or not he had changed since she had seen him last. She was sure he had at least a little. That was a very long time ago...

As she reminisced about the past she saw the start of small figures walking towards them in the distance, and knew it had to be them. _Finally _she thought. She wondered why they were walking so slow, and she realized that _of course it had taken them so long to get here, they were traveling with civilians- elderly ones at that! _Sakura's Inner scoffed _**Psh, if that was me being held back by them I would be fucking pissed. **__Ya, thats like an extra four or five days of travel... _For a ninja it only takes about two to three days to get between Suna and Konoha, but for civilians who can't run abnormally fast, or jump through trees, and need certain amenities that ninja don't, it takes a full week.

With Sakura over thinking in her own head, she only realized that the Kazekage was walking through the front of their gates at the last second- and then she couldn't think anymore. She looked up at him and she caught herself staring. His shock of red hair was enough to get anyones attention, but at the same time that was the least interesting thing about him.

The way he walked commanded your attention and respect...his stride was powerful, sturdy, and threatening...and yet somehow it was also refined and regal. He wore his official Kazekage robes over what she could tell was a black shirt- but other than that she couldn't see below his neck. However she was to distracted looking at his ever quickly approaching face to think to much about the rest of him. His face was...sexy. Sakura almost felt dirty with the thoughts racing through her mind that had all of a sudden kicked into full gear. His nose was straight and fit perfectly in the center of his masculine face. His cheekbones were solid and defined and led down to his squared off chin (with the tiniest cleft in it) and his perfect wide mouth and slightly full lips. He had a little bit of scruff covering his face (probably from the journey) and it made him look older. Or maybe that was just because he_ was_ older.

Sakura told herself to calm down and get it together _Seriously, why am I freaking out? I see hot guys all the time. __**Ya,**_ _**but none that are generally downright sexy as that man right there! **_Inner practically purred. If Sakura wasn't a ninja than her legs would be shaking right now. _Oh what the hell_? Her legs _were _shaking. Were was this coming from? Was she seriously nervous? Was he having this affect on her from all the way over th- oh...he was right in front of her now. Sakura commanded her body to snap out of whatever the hell was wrong with it , and to stand up straight and close her freaking mouth. And thank kami it listened.

He was about six feet from her- exactly three feet to her right directly in front of Tsunade, and then three feet in front of her. At this close of a range she could fully appreciate the perfection of his face...

She needed to snap out of it and do her job. Sakura forced her brain into active ninja mode tearing her eyes from Gaara and instead looking at the people coming up behind him. Sakura took mental notes of everyone- Kankuro, Temari, four older men (all in robes and large hats in the Suna style) she assumed were the advisory officials, and six other ninja all in the same tan-ish and white uniforms and the same white cloth turban style masks covering everything but there eyes. That number of ninja seemed to be a bit excessive...she bet anything that the officials were all elderly rich snobs who felt they couldn't travel without the 'show' of extra ninja. There were quite a few people like that here as well, she thought quickly about the older members of a few clans.

She brought her full attention back to the Kazekage and Tsunade as she bowed and they greeted each other. "Esteemed Kazekage, I am glad to see that you arrived here safely...and I am _sincerely_ glad that you are here to renew the peace treaty between our villages." Sakura glanced to the side and sighed internally. Why did it somehow sound like Tsunade was being threatening and slightly sarcastic at the same time? Neither of those were good! Maybe that was just how she talked to someone who was on her same level that she just did not want to offend...because normally she would just talk down to them. Ya...thats it. She just hoped that the Kazekage wasn't offended because then that would be a problem.

Her thoughts left her once again as he bowed to Tsunade and opened his mouth to speak. "As am I Hokage-sama." Thats it. Those four words coming out of his mouth and Sakura was undone on the inside. She felt her stomach disintegrate and swirl with nerves and she wanted him to say something, _anything_ else that would allow her to hear that deep velvety voice again.

He straightened himself and looked out onto the crowd. She was looking directly at his face, and saw him turn his quick glancing eyes from the mess of people, to Tsunade, to Shizune, and then all of a sudden it was her who was at the end of his piercing stare. His gaze traveled up her body, evaluating her, until he reached her face again. As their eyes locked, Sakura took in the bright blue-green color of his pupils and could feel her face get hotter, knowing her blush was noticeable, which just made her blush more. It was maybe two seconds that they had been looking at each other but to her it felt like forever. Sakura stood still, rooted to the spot, as he looked away from her and back at the crowd of people.

All of a sudden she heard a vey familiar voice, yelling _very_ loudly (which allowed her to snap out of whatever was wrong with her and come back down to earth) "..._Jeez, _seriously people! Move! I have to get through! I need to get upfront BEFORE Gaara gets h- OH HEY Kakashi-sensei! Sorry I'm late!..." Sakura turned around just in time to see the disheveled top of Nauto's very blonde head running and shoving itself through the crowd, and then stop, as he broke through to the gap between the people past the front of the crowd and the Anbu, and then locked eyes on the Kazekage.

And that was when all hell broke loose.

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Ok so what do you guys think so far? Im just getting warmed up - setting the scene for the story to come, and all that jazz. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns let me know in the comments or a PM.

:) I love ya long time.


	2. Chapter 2

**PLEASE READ:**

Ok so in this story Gaara and Sakura are both 21. Around the chunin exams they were both 12-13ish and then I think 15ish after the Shippudin time skip. If any of this info is incorrect please let me know in the comments or P/M. So anyways that means for the time skip between then and my story here, about 7 years have gone by. So Gaara only barely remembers Sakura. ^-^ yay on with the story!

Oh wait...

Disclaimer: All the usual schtuff. I Do Not own NARUTO, or any of the characters, all I own is this plot, my laptop, and the clothes on my back...oh, and these goldfish*!

*nom nom nom...

ENJOY :)

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Chapter 1-The Arrival (Gaara)

Gaara remembered the last time he stepped through the gates of Konoha, as he saw them about half a mile from were he was currently walking. His destination. He thought of when he was just a mercenary, a ninja with no conscious, and was sent here to destroy this village and its people. It was all about blood, and revenge, and feeding the ravaging animal inside of him. It had been such a long time since then... Since then he had transformed into an entirely new person. An entirely new man.

But still he could not be more shocked that now, even after all that, he was welcomed here with open arms. I guess thats what being the Kazekage of Sunna did for you. _If nothing else_ he thought. Now as he stepped through the city, It was not just with his brother and sister, but with a few advisors and several high ranking ninja.

This, needless to say, annoyed him to no end. Because all of those ninja would not be necessary if those advisors had not insisted on coming along for this trip. He found that with such a big party traveling with him, it was a huge hassle. It took twice as long to get here, and it caused way more attention and commotion than he cared for.

Not to mention he also hated just about every single member on the board of his council. They were all old snobs, with old school mentality, and a strong resilient memory of his fathers reign. That didn't matter in most cases- because he _always_ ignored the insistent and overbearing council in all matters of state (personal or otherwise). And they all feared him so they were usually well kept in check.

Yet traveling with them, and listening to their complaints day after day for nearly a week...he was surprised his patience had lasted him this long.

But he refused to let it get the better of him, so before he could kill one of the members of his advisory counsel, he put on his best stoic face and strode ahead right through the gates of Konoha (at last), everyone hurrying in directly after him.

Gaara was not shocked to find the large group of people all gathered there to greet them. However he _was_ shocked to see that the Hokage was there personally. He himself did not usually greet people at the gates when they came to visit his village- it was impractical and he simply could not find the time to wait around for hours waiting for someone to arrive.

As he approached her she bowed as deeply as her rank required, one ruler to another, and Gaara did the same. "Esteemed Kazekage, I am glad to see that you arrived here safely" she straightened from her bow and locked fierce eyes on him "and I am _sincerely_ glad that you are here to renew the peace treaty between our villages." Lady Tsunade held a solid smile, Gaara could see the careless power that radiated off her. She sounded like she was daring him to back out at the last minute, like she was warning him as if he was a small child just waiting for her to turn around so he could shove his hand in the cookie jar. Of course she wasn't really...but he could definitely tell she didn't usually attempt to speak to anyone on such a respective level and was struggling slightly with the formality of it all. He thought it was humorous.

He cordially returned her bow "As am I Hokage-sama."

He straightened himself quickly and looked at the crowd gathered around Tsunade. He noticed most of them were ninja, but a few of them were also civilians. He didn't recognize anyone through the tight line of security Anbu separating them from the rest of the crowd.

He looked back to the Hokage and then to her left were there was a plain looking woman with short black hair, and a nervous smile plastered to her face. He looked down to see her holding a pig. _Well that really is strange_ he thought as he continued to look around. _Who just carries a stock animal around with th- _all of a sudden his mind stopped short and he could feel his stomach tighten.

His eyes had settled on the person standing to the right of the Hokage, a shock of pink taking over his vision. His steady breath stilled, and his pupils dilated just slightly. Even so the Hokage noticed his reaction to who he was looking at and smirked just a little. _Interesting_ she thought.

Gaara couldn't take his eyes off her. He couldn't remember the last time he saw such a captivatingly beautiful woman. He had only ever met one other person in his entire life with pink hair. She had helped in his rescue and reincarnation alongside Lady Chio some seven years ago...Sakura. Her name had been Sakura. _This couldn't be the same girl though_ he thought.

Sakura had a completely different face...and short hair. This woman's hair was very long ( about mid back) and thick and it held a little bit of curl. She had it secured back into a low hanging ponytail with pieces hanging out here and there. He felt it might have looked messy on someone else. On her it just looked..._sexy. _

Her cheek bones were prominently defined and her over all appearance looked mature, _How old is she?_ Her skin was pale and flawless, he wondered if she was a ninja. _Kunoichi can't possibly have such perfect skin, can they? _He noticed her body and could feel an arousal stir within him. She was so lithe and defined- like a ninja, but also soft and just a bit curvy in all the right spots. He looked back up to her face and noticed a slight blush tinged her cheeks. He deemed hat he had been looking at her far to long to be appropriate.

Even though he had only been looking around at the crowd for a few seconds, this crowd was special, filled with high class top ranking ninja, and he did not want to be caught looking exceedingly long at a woman in any informal or undignified way. He had special codes he had to abide by after all- being the leader of a nation.

He looked back into the eyes of the Hokage and in doing so noticed that someone was pushing their way through the crowd...and yelling _very _loudly. Gaara's brow furrowed _He __would__ make a scene_ he thought.

"_Jeez_, seriously people! Move! I have to get through! I need to get upfront BEFORE Gaara gets h- OH HEY Kakashi-sensei! Sorry I'm late! I got held up at Ichiraku's eating ramen and I-" Gaara locked eyes with him just as he came into sight...

And that was when all hell broke loose.

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As Naruto broke through the barrier of people standing behind the Hokage and her companions, and set his eyes on Gaara, he automatically became to excited to contain himself.

Gaara saw it all unfold in slow motion -as follows. Naruto screamed at the top of his lungs "Oi Gaara! You made it!" Smiling with all of his teeth he propelled himself from the ground, into the air, and over the tops of the heads of the Anbu left separating them. Thus accurately throwing his body in Gaara's direction.

As Naruto made the descent from being in mid air to him, the ninja from Suna sprung into protective action- lungeing for Naruto. This set off the Konoha Anbu as they immediately jumped towards them, trying to shield the Hokage from any close range danger.

Naruto however managed to evade any and all mid- air ninja and landed directly in front of/ on Gaara in a fierce hug- which caused Gaara's sand to spring up from nowhere and dance to life in the air- which consequently caused the ninja in the air to be caught there, completely stuck hovering above them on top of the floating grains.

When you looked at it from any angle it really was kind of funny- the positions everyone ended up in.

Gaara looked up through the tall blonde locks of hair currently hazing his vision, to the intense bit of chaos that had momentarily been caused and allowed himself to chuckle a bit. Naruto released his friend and stepped back, clasping him on the shoulder. "Hey Im so glad your h- ah what are they doing up there?" He had finally looked up to see the floating ninja wrapped up in Gaara's sand. They were immediately released and they all jumped back to their respective spots, pre-mishap. If you could of seen their faces, they probably would have looked annoyed.

The Kazekage turned to his men with a low stiff tone so that no one around would hear him "There is no need to get reckless here. You should know better than to jump in like that where you aren't needed, causing a scene." He fixed them with a threatening glare and they fell into line heads bent down slightly, miffed at being publicly scolded.

Gaara then turned to Naruto but he was already being held by the scruff of his shirt by Lady Tsunade. She looked thoroughly pissed.

"Was that really necessary?" Her eye twitched as she yelled "This is supposed to be a _formal_ reception! When the hell did it become ok for you to jump around like an idiot? Aren't you an adult! An Anbu captain!" She looked around to the group of Anbu surrounding her and yelled a bit louder "Who let this imbecile through training? Who passed him! I'll have your head!"

Naruto just laughed as he poked the Hokage's shoulder and complained "Baa-chan let me down please! Your over reacting again! I was just saying hi!" He smiled a thousand watt grin and Gaara swore that a few kunoichi visibly swooned at him. Oh boy.

Tsunade let Naruto go with the deadly promise of finishing their conversation on manners later when she had more time to deal with his pain in the ass. She then looked to her masked warriors and told them to clear everyone out of the way, they were heading back to the Hokage tower now.

Gaara, through all the commotion, hadn't been paying attention to the pink haired girls facial expressions. But now as he looked back at her he saw irritation and confusion written all over her face. He wondered about that.

He raised his arm up and motioned for Kankuro and Temari to step up on either side of him. As they did the plain looking woman who had been standing with the Hokage stepped up towards him and bowed deeply. She spoke in a quiet but firm tone. "Kazekage-sama, I hope that the intense commotion has not upset you in any way." She looked really very upset. He only nodded his head but did not say anything. He had known Naruto for a very long time and while his antics were bizarre, and he did not understand him all the time, he found him to be a trustworthy and loyal person. So Gaara decided a long time ago that it would be best if he allowed things like overzealous greetings (only from Naruto) to be accepted.

However the woman did not look relieved by his minor head nod. She continued anyways "Yes, uhm... well Lady Tsunade has arranged for us all to be escorted through the city to the Hokage Tower and once we get there we will be able to sit down and discuss our matters of state." She smiled, relieved to have gotten her message out without stuttering.

Temari looked at her brother then and sighed, she had seen Gaara's face fall a little at the woman's statement. She was sure he didn't realizethat the meeting would take place so quickly. She knew better than anyone that sometimes Gaara just needed a little quiet time before he went on with his duties so he could behave like a normal person.

Gaara had been Kazekage for a long time though, and he took on even his most unwanted responsibilities in stride. So without another word he stepped forward with the woman and headed for the center of the city to the Hokage Tower.


End file.
